Map - Međimurje County (Medimurje)

Međimurje County (Međimurska županija ; Muraköz megye) is a triangle-shaped county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje. Despite being the smallest Croatian county by size, it is the most densely populated one (not including the City of Zagreb). The county seat is Čakovec, which is also the largest city of the county.

The county borders Slovenia in the north-west and Hungary in the east, with about 30 kilometers of Slovenian territory separating it from Austria. The south-eastern corner of the county is near the town of Legrad and the confluence of the Mura into the Drava. The closest bigger cities include Varaždin, Koprivnica and Bjelovar in Croatia, Lendava, Murska Sobota and Maribor in Slovenia, as well as Nagykanizsa in Hungary and Graz in Austria. The Croatian capital of Zagreb is about 90 kilometers south-west of Čakovec.

There are slopes of the Alpine foothills in the north-western part of the county, the Upper Međimurje, making it suitable for vineyards. The south-eastern part of the county, the Lower Međimurje, touches the flat Pannonian Plain. The flat parts of the region are also largely used for agriculture, which mostly includes fields of cereals, maize and potato, as well as orchards, which are mostly planted with apple trees. There are two major hydroelectric power plants along the southern border of the county, on the Drava River.

Besides its Croatian name (Međimurska županija), the county is also known as Muraköz megye in Hungarian, Medžimurska županija in Slovene, and Murinsel in German.

Throughout the past, the historical region of Međimurje was referred to by several names. In Latin, it was called Insula intra Dravum et Muram, Insula Muro-Dravana and Hortus Slavoniae Superior (or Hortus Croatiae). The names Insula intra Dravum et Muram and Insula Muro-Dravana mean "island between the Mura and the Drava", referring to the two rivers bordering the region. The name Hortus Croatiae means "the [flower] garden of Croatia". In Hungarian, the region is known as Muraköz, and in German as Murinsel. In Croatian, it was referred to by several names as well, including Mejmorje, Medžmorje and Medžimorje (in Kajkavian), as well as Međumurje and Međimurje (in Shtokavian).

The Kajkavian toponym Medžimorje is believed to have been the original name of the region. It originated in the 6th or 7th century, which makes it older than the Latin toponyms that were first mentioned in feudalism. The name Medžimorje is derived from the Proto-Slavic preposition medji and the noun morje. It literally means "land surrounded by water", i.e. "island". Međimorje is also an archaic common noun that was used in Kajkavian Croatian, also meaning "island". However, the names Međimurje (Shtokavian Croatian), Muraköz (Hungarian), and Murinsel (German) all contain the hydronym Mura (or Mur). The name Murinsel means "island on the Mura". This led to some dilemmas in the usage of the Croatian names Međimorje and Međimurje. In Kajkavian Croatian the name is Medžimurje, or Medžimorje, and in the Prekmurje dialect it is Medmürje or Nedžimurje.

The region's unofficial symbols include the turtle dove (Croatian: grlica gugutka, but locally referred to just as grlica), which is one of the most common birds in the region, and the violet (ljubičica). The region is often called Međimurje malo, which is Croatian for "Little Međimurje".